Image of the Fendahl - Episode 2

There was a feature on one of these DVDs that looks at cliffhangers and this is one of those featured an its featured because it’s a bit of a confusing cliffhanger. I believed this and have thought since then that it was a slightly odd ending but I was wrong about the cliffhanger because it seems perfectly fine. I think its more down to the editing that it might not be the most straight forward of moments but I think that the DVD feature gives it a reputation that it doesn’t deserve. The episode manages to keep the Doctor and Leela apart for the entire episode which is good because it means that they have can have to different (yet equally good) plot strands.

This episode features another former soap star as Geoff Hinsliff who appears as Jack Tyler in this episode and would go on to play Don Brennan in Coronation Street from 1987 to 1997. He represents the cobbles whilst Derek Martin represents the dreary soap Eastenders. I cant make my mind up about Jack Tyler because there is something not quite right about him. He seems like he’s a nice character but Hinsliff plays the role in such a way that it comes across more like he’s hiding something and that is a bit off putting.

The episode continues its good work from the previous episode. The creepy vibe which does seem like it’s a Philip Hinchcliffe story but this is credit to Chris Boucher and George Spenton-Foster. Spenton-Foster’s directing is particularly special but it works for what Boucher has written. Things were going so well that I didn’t notice that Leela’s hair is weird and even better, I didn’t reliase that K9 wasn’t in the episode. Oh yeah I’m a K9 hater. Deal with it J

Fendelman comes across as a slightly mad individual. I suppose he’s one of those mad but brilliant scientists. The thing is that he’s just as barmy as the others now because Wanda Ventham’s Thea is behaving oddly but it is Max is the one that really has become influenced. I think that this is clever because Max really was in the background whilst Fendelman and Thea took centre stage.

The cliffhanger is perfectly fine and it starts with a bit of humour as the Doctor comes across the skull. The Doctor offers it a jelly baby but I think eagle eye fans will know that it wasn’t a jelly baby that he offered but a liquorice allsort. The Doctor becomes possessed and ends up with his hand on the skull. It’s going to be interesting the remind myself how this gets resolved in the next episode but this is the second time in as many episodes that the Doctor has been possessed and it’s the same fate that seemed to follow Sarah Jane if memory serves me correctly.

The story manages to keep things going again whilst not actually doing anything. It’s a solid enough episode and I am still enjoying this story and I am surprised by this. Hopefully the second half of this serial wont disappoint and let it down.